A well system (e.g., an oil or gas well) includes a wellbore that is typically drilled for extracting hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation. But not every well system contains enough hydrocarbons to make it commercially viable to continue operating the well. Operators of the well system can determine whether the well system has a commercially productive level of hydrocarbons by analyzing fluid in the wellbore. The characteristics of the fluid (e.g., the multi-phase composition, water-cut, gas/oil ratio, velocity, or flow regime of the fluid) in the wellbore can provide useful information about the viability of the well system.
Fluid in the wellbore, however, can exhibit complex fluid characteristics, for example, a multiphase flow pattern. A multi-phase flow pattern can include at least two fluids with different states (e.g., solids, liquids, or gasses), otherwise referred to as “phases,” simultaneously flowing through a medium, for example, the wellbore. Multi-phase flow patterns can include two-phase flow patterns, for example, water-gas or oil-gas flow patterns. Other multi-phase flow patterns can include three-phase (e.g., gas, liquid, and solid), emulsion, turbulent, bubbly, slug, churn, and annular flow patterns. These complex flow patterns and other fluid characteristics can make it challenging to analyze fluid in the wellbore.